The present invention relates to real-time computer discussion or chat systems and, in particular, to such a system that reduces ambiguity in the display of discussion messages.
Conventional real-time computer discussion or chat systems allow users at multiple separate user computers to communicate with each other substantially simultaneously in real-time. For example, each user is free to enter text messages or xe2x80x9cturnsxe2x80x9d into the discussion system. A central computer system receives the messages or turns and broadcasts them to each of the user computers. The messages or turns are broadcast in the order in which the messages are received at the central computer system (i.e., a first in-first out system). The text messages are displayed on a display screen associated with each user computer as a common sequence and set of messages, thereby allowing all users to communicate with each other simultaneously.
In conventional prior art implementations, the messages or turns are generally non-persistent. Other than a relatively small number of the most recent messages or turns, the older turns in prior art systems scroll from the display and are no longer available to users. Typically, the messages received at a user computer during a first session of a discussion or chat are not again available to that user computer from the discussion system during a subsequent chat. Each user computer typically displays messages or turns that have been transmitted or broadcast only during a session in which the user computer is included in (e.g., logged into) the discussion or room. Messages or turns transmitted in the discussion before a user computer is included are unavailable to that user computer from the discussion system.
The simultaneous communication between multiple users in a conventional discussion system, in combination with the sequential broadcasting of messages, can introduce ambiguities into the communications. The following exemplary message sequence illustrates this communication ambiguity:
User Tom: xe2x80x9cAnyone here from LA?xe2x80x9d
User Sally: xe2x80x9cAnyone here from St. Louis?xe2x80x9d
User Jeff: xe2x80x9cI am!xe2x80x9d
These ambiguities arise because messages can be generated nearly simultaneously by different users, but the discussion system provides no way to specifically associate the responsive message from User Jeff with the correct prior or parent message. (The correctly related messages are sometimes referred to as an adjacency pair.) Moreover, data processing within the computer system that operates the discussion system can introduce delays between the time a user transmits a message and the time the message is broadcast. These delays can further exacerbate the incidence of ambiguities in the discussion system. Studies have shown that significant numbers (e.g., 40 percent) of turns or messages in some discussion systems are repairs for misunderstood or ambiguous prior turns. See, Garcia and Jacobs, Qualitative Sociology, Vol. 21, No. 3, 1998.
Distinct from such real-time computer chat systems are message boards or bulletin boards, such as Usenet newsgroups. Bulletin boards commonly lack the broadcasting of messages that are posted by users. Instead, users access the bulletin board to retrieve information from it. As a result, the communication on bulletin boards is generally passive, as to the bulletin board system, and do not provide generally real-time transmission of messages as in discussion systems. Another distinction between real-time computer discussion systems and bulletin boards is that the latter commonly to maintain a history of posted messages, thereby providing significant persistence. Moreover, some bulletin boards allow users to post messages manually with threaded relationships to prior messages. In particular, users commonly can manually indicate that messages they are posting are to be associated with prior messages as threaded xe2x80x9crepliesxe2x80x9d that are positioned directly under or nested with the prior messages.
The present invention provides a threaded text discussion system and an associated graphical user interface that is rendered on display screens of user (client) computers. In one implementation, the user interface includes a threaded discussion message pane and a social accounting pane that are rendered simultaneously adjacent each other on the display screen. In other implementations, the threaded discussion message pane and the social accounting pane could be arranged differently relative to each other in a simultaneous display or could be displayed or used separately.
Within the threaded discussion message pane, messages or turns are listed in a threaded or tree structure. The messages are threaded in that messages that reference or reply to a prior message are nested or positioned directly under the prior message. The threading of related messages or turns may be performed manually by the user or automatically by the discussion system based upon a messaging heuristic.
The threaded discussion message pane may include a text entry pane within which users enter or type their turns or messages. Threaded messages may be rendered within the threaded discussion message pane with message type indicators that provide a type indication for each message. Exemplary message type indicators include a thread message type indicator which indicates that a message is the start of a new thread, a question message type indicator which indicates that a message is a question, an answer message type indicator which indicates that a message is an answer, and a comment message type indicator which is the default message indication and is non-specific about the message type.
In one implementation, the social accounting pane displays identifying information about each member of a discussion such as, for example, a user name and an email address. Members currently involved in or logged into the discussion are indicated with an attendance field. An entered field and an exit field indicate when each member last entered the discussion and, if not present, when the member last exited the discussion. The social accounting pane may also list a session field indicating the number of sessions or times each member has entered the discussion. Thread, question, answer and comment fields may indicate the numbers of thread, question, answer and comment messages the member has posted.
The threaded discussion message pane and the rendering of messages or turns in a threaded or tree structure eliminate the ambiguity characteristic of conventional real-time computer chat systems. Moreover, rendering messages with message type indicators further provides contextual information by which users can quickly discern the subject matter and their potential interest in the posted messages. In addition, the social accounting pane can give each user contextual information about other users to assist each user in discerning which other users are likely to be contributing desired information to the discussion. These features, alone and together, provide users with quickly discernible contextual information regarding the messages in a discussion system. In contrast, conventional discussion systems confusingly intermix messages and provide virtually no organized contextual information from which users can discern the usefulness of contributions of others to the discussion.